Status of Rusty Bartel’s Cessna 150

It’s been a long time coming but Rusty’s C-150 is nearly ready for flight! Bill Dewey has been diligently working on installing the freshly overhauled engine obtained from John Kuehl. The engine is virtually equivalent to new with four new cylinders and other new parts. The engine looks beautiful! It’s going to be a great running and great flying aircraft! The down side is that the costs incurred in the engine rebuild require that Rusty ask a selling price commensurate with the condition of the airplane with its new engine. My investigation of the value of this airplane, using aircraft blue book sources, is $25,000. The blue book value is actually more like $27,000 but that would be with an up-to-date nav/comm radio. This airplane has an out-of-date nav/comm that really should be replaced. The airplane can be flown with the current radio but it is limited to 360 comm channels while all modern radios have 720 channel capability. The current radio would not be able use all frequencies and, for example, would not receive the Creswell AWOS, the KEUG ATIS or be able to communicate on the Independence airport CTAF/Unicom of 122.975 MHz.

To the best of my knowledge, nothing has been formally done to establish the flying club that we of Chapter 31 have been trying to see materialize. Due to the higher value of the airplane, if the club still wants to purchase this airplane, it will need to either find more charter members or come up with a plan to finance the aircraft by coming up with an initial fee and monthly dues that will not only cover all the normal expenses of owning and operating the airplane but also be able to cover monthly finance payments. Rusty and his wife, Beth, are anxious to recoup some of the costs incurred due to the unexpected work necessary to overhaul the engine. The plan will be to put the aircraft up for sale nationally as soon as it is test flown and it is established that all is well with the engine and airframe. I am suggesting that the “club” have the first right of refusal if a buyer is found. Therefore, if there is serious interest, the club needs to be able to take financial action, possibly before the end of the year. Bill Dewey and I will be at this Saturday’s EAA breakfast and would be happy to answer questions and show you the airplane in its current state.

Gary Ludeke

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